Harry Potter and Darkness’ Champion
by markami
Summary: 4th Year AU. In order to stop wizard's discrimination, an alliance of socalled dark creatures perform a ritual to find their champion, someone who will bring them a chance to achieve their objective. Independent!Harry Harrymany. NOT SLASH
1. 00 Prologue:The Ritual

**Disclaimer, Author Notes and future Review responses are always to be found in my profile.

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** The Ritual  
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He shouldn't be here.

He should be in his bed, having a normal dream for a teenager.

He definitely shouldn't be floating above a clearing in a dark forest observing a group of… people assembled around a stone altar, chanting. _That_ was, without a doubt, not a normal dream.

_If_ it was a dream at all.

He wasn't too sure of it. It didn't feel like a dream, even with the matter of floating and being disembodied. He didn't recall ever thinking with so much lucidity during a dream. It all felt as he supposed it would do that thing he read about somewhere years ago, before finding out about being a wizard. Astral projection or something like that. He had daydreamt often enough about being able to do it, as he never went beyond Surrey.

But how had he come here without realizing? Or why?

While trying to work all that out, or at least understand their chant, he observed in detail the beings in the clearing. There were twenty four, all surrounding the altar in a loose ring except three, who stood besides it. There were three clearly different groups, each represented by one of those inside the circle.

One party was obviously vampires. They were easy to recognize with their unnatural paleness and their clothes way out of date. The second was something he had never seen before. They were like the werewolves portrayed in movies: hairy humans with claws and wolf-shaped heads. The remaining eight were human enough to not be given a second glance if it wasn't for a tiny, insignificant detail. They were beautiful. Too beautiful to be human. Heck, they were male and he still thought they were, and he was straight, thank-you-very-much!

He did catch another particularity about the group. There were only two women, and both were vampires. Was it only coincidence? He didn't think so, even if he didn't have a clue why he did. Perhaps it had something to do with the pretty-faced group? Were they incompatible enough to not be distracted by them while the strange werewolves were not? Or was there another reason?

His pondering was cut short when he realized some kind of symbol in the altar, probably a rune, had begun to shine and he somehow could now understand their chanting. "Touched by darkness, you of kind heart with voice heard by many and pure soul, answer our summoning, heed our plea" they repeated over and over again.

'Fuck' he thought. 'I don't know about the kind heart and pure soul, but I'm surely touched by darkness' His hand rose to rub a scar in his forehead in the curious shape of a lightning bolt. 'And I'm the bloody boy-who-lived, people hears me, even if most don't _listen_ to what they hear' Bitterness rose when he remembered the events of his second year at Hogwarts, or more recently, Fudge brushing aside Sirius innocence. 'And I don't see anyone else here with me, so they _are_ probably talking about me. At least now I know I have a kind heart and a pure soul if my spirit or whatever has been dragged here by their chanting' the boy laughed sarcastically.

The rune stopping its brightening seemed to be some sort of signal for the other three to begin their role. The three of them kneeled and, for the first time that night, he saw there was a trunk of some sort at their feet. The representative of the "beautiful ones", as he was forced to call them in his ignorance, reached inside it and extracted something small and gory from within. Standing and climbing up to kneel again on the altar; he proceeded to drop it inside a bowl-like hollow there was in the middle of it while reciting. "I offer the gift of clabbert's pustule, to make sure you are warned of danger". Then he climbed down and returned beside the other two, only for his actions to be repeated by the werewolf wannabe. "I offer the gift of diricawl's heart, to make sure you always have a way out" said this one, his voice more like the growl of a wolf than anything a human throat could ever produce. The cycle began again, but the vampire retrieved a vial of a dark, gooey substance. He had no idea what could it be, but he found soon enough. "I offer the gift of boggart's essence, to make you able to be whatever you want".

'OK' he thought. 'This is obviously some sort of ritual where they offer these _gifts_ in exchange for something they wish from me, and that last one was from a dark creature' He couldn't stop the shudder at thinking of what they could want from him and if he would be able to refuse at all, with this being an obviously powerful ritual to need so many people to perform it. But the gifts where not over yet, it seemed, as now all three of them were reaching for the trunk again and carefully manoeuvring to climb and kneel on the altar while grasping another vial, whose contents he couldn't even see with so many hands surrounding it, at the same time. "We all offer the gift of dragon's blood, to bring you closer to magic itself" they said as one. What the hell were they going to ask from him to offer these things instead of money or something like that? Did they know who he was and thought he would be more receptive to ways to keep alive than any other possibility? Or was it that they wanted him to do something extremely dangerous and he would need all this? He was beginning to worry when the potential implications of this ritual listed themselves in his mind. 'But they said it was a plea, didn't they? It implies the chance to decline, right?' he wondered, hopeful.

While he was pondering all this, he failed to notice the three had never climbed down and had instead retrieved ceremonial daggers of some sort. When he caught up on it, he saw the blades were made of something whitish, bone or ivory, probably. He watched with fascinated horror as, one by one, they took off part of their clothing, leaving their torso exposed, in order to proceed with the ritual. 'I had a bad feeling about this. A _very_ bad feeling.'

This time, it was the vampire who started everything. Rising his arm until it was above the assorted body parts and fluids, he proceeded to make a cut on his wrist and bleed over them, all the while reciting "I stand as the embodiment of the vampire nation. May all our strengths and none of our weaknesses be bestowed upon you as our ally" and he smeared some blood in another rune carved opposite the first one, which the boy realized probably stood for him, making it shine, too. The other two followed the same course of action in reverse order, with the "beautiful one" being last, stating "I stand as the embodiment of the werewolf nation. May all our strengths and none of our weaknesses be bestowed upon you as our sibling" and "I stand as the embodiment of the veela nation. May all our strengths and none of our weaknesses be bestowed upon you as our voice" respectively. But even _that_ wasn't enough for the ritual, it seemed, as they continued at the same time with "With our blood we pay for these gifts. With our lives we close this deal. With our souls we ask for your help."

'Holy mother of Merlin!' he shouted in his mind as they raised the knives above their heads and without hesitating stabbed viciously their own hearts. Immediately after, he felt as if he was being blown up with hot air like a common balloon. It wasn't painful, but it was really unpleasant. He couldn't stop himself from thinking his aunt got what she deserved if she felt the same.

Without warning, everything stopped with a flash of brilliant light and his eyes shot open in his bedroom at number four, Privet Drive.


	2. 01 Explanations

**Explanations**

"Have you identified the recipient?" asked Aurelius Gladius as soon his eyesight recovered from the blinding light. A firm hoot was his response; and he tied a letter to the leg of the awaiting owl. Taking a small stone with a rune inscribed in it, he presented it to the bird. "Drop this near his home, where it won't be easily disturbed. It's important" The owl hooted again before picking it up with its beak and taking flight.

"I hope it won't be all for naught" the vampire said to himself, watching the owl go. After a moment, he returned to the altar to help the others clean up.

* * *

Harry Potter was a wreck. 

Last night he had the weirdest dream, ever. He had been reluctant to dismiss it, but after being awake until half past three, and spending since he woke up (with the first lights of the day, mind you) trying to find anything different about himself, from his body to the way he feels about things, and finding nothing, he concluded it wasn't real.

And now, almost noon, tired from the lack of sleep and pulling weeds for two hours in the backyard, Harry wasn't sure if he should feel relieved or disappointed it wasn't. Yes, the threat of a visit from his godfather had improved his life at number four, a bit. His things weren't locked in the cupboard, and at the beginning the chores were fewer and the amounts of food almost decent. But as time wore on with no unwanted visitors, not even owls, the Dursleys relaxed. And now, after almost a month since he arrived, they were treating him about as bad as always. In barely twenty days he had lost at least eight pounds! And all because he couldn't do magic outside of school. If he could, a simple levitation spell would be enough to scare them into treating him as they should.

If only the dream would have been true, he could have received something useful to scare them, even if it was only freakish strength. Strength was something his relatives knew and respected, as it was what they usually used to "put him in his place". Lifting uncle Vernon's considerable mass with his bare hands would do the trick nicely.

'Mmm. If I had gotten fangs, a good snarl to show them off could have worked as well. O perhaps…' but his musings were interrupted by an owl, the first one in the three weeks he's spend in that house, and he jumped up to get the letter tied to its leg with a small shout of "Sirius!" But the hand writing wasn't the same he saw in the letter attached to the tiny owl Sirius got for Ron to make up for his lost pet rat, nor was it addressed to Harry Potter, but to the 'Chosen One".

Harry gulped. It was one thing to fantasize when he thought all had been a dream. Now he knew it was real, and the doubts rose again. "What to do?" he mumbled to himself. "I suppose whatever it was, it's already done. Better to know what I got myself into this time" And after taking a deep breath and getting it out slowly, he tore the envelope open and unfolded the letter.

"**To our Champion,**

**What you witnessed last night, and unknowingly were a part of, was an altered version of an ancient ritual developed long before the first pharaoh. Its name, 'Champion's awakening', summarizes its purpose.**

**It was first formulated during a time of war. The opposing army had an extraordinary fighter, seemingly unbeatable, so someone who could measure up to him was needed. As there was no one who could at that time, it was determined to combine the strengths of their very best and some other sources into a single fighter. This is the origin of the 'Champion's awakening'.**

**We, of course, were forced to modify it somewhat so it could work with the added difficulty of the three sacrifices and the recipient being of four different races and without the physical presence of the future "Champion" while giving him or her the opportunity to witness the proceedings and understand the wording as a way to guarantee there was no catch. We needed the ritual to find someone who was capable and willing to understand us and help us politically as well as in a fight, so it was necessary for him or her to be respected in wizarding society. As you should know, it's really difficult to find a wizard or witch to fulfill all this requirements and could be trusted, so we needed magic to find someone who did for us. It is fortunate all these hurdles could not only be worked out, but that the adjustments brought an unexpected reward. The "gifts" were no longer limited to three, but to four, and they could be a great deal stronger; all because of the mixing of magic from three different magical beings working together.**

**There was the added inconvenience of the ritual requiring to take place at midnight of the summer solstice with a full moon too, so we had to develop a way for werewolves to participate, which turned out to be a rather difficult and power-consuming blood ward that allowed them to retain humanoid enough shape and speech to carry out with their part of the ritual.**

**In short, you, whoever you are, have been chosen by magic as our best shot, our "champion". But you are not forced into this position, as reluctant help would never be as successful as a willing one could. We have managed to give you a 24 hour window to accept it, so you have until midnight tonight to decide. After that it will be a waste. We apologize for the short amount of time you'll have to make a decision, but it was the best we could do.**

**We, vampires, are prideful people, but this time we implore without shame for you to carefully consider our request. The future of our people could depend on your decision, in the end, and one of our best as well as one of the strongest werewolves and veela, have sacrificed their lives for this chance.**

**In order to accept your position as one of our kin, and our champion, you have to simply spill some blood and smear it on your chest (right on where you can feel your heart), your forehead and in this letter, and swear aloud you will help. The terms of your pledge will reach us, and if they are acceptable, we will complete the proceedings from our end and this parchment will turn to ashes. All abilities transferred during the ritual will be unlocked at midnight, and all parties aware of the deal will be able to recognize you at sight any time after that, even if we don't know your name yet. You will never be attacked or harmed by one of us, and will always be able to seek help, guidance or refuge with us.**

**Of course, not every one of any of our kinds is part of this deal, so if you ever encounter an outcast of our people, they will not know of your relationship with us. This works as means of secrecy, but also can lead to be treated as any normal wizard or witch would be by them.**

**You'll find more information about your new situation inside the envelope if you accept; remember to look at it.**

**We appeal again to your kindness to think thoroughly before choosing.**

**Hopefully your new friend,**

**Aurelius Gladius**

**Head of the Council of Elders"**

"Well, this explains a little" he said out loud. Harry was partially relieved, but also a little frustrated. It was good to know he really had say in the matter, and thought that since he had the opportunity to refuse he should do so. Every time there was some kind of 'adventure' in his life, it ended with him getting almost killed. But if he could word the terms so it always leaves him a way out… It was a pity he didn't have time to ask for advice to Sirius or Hermione. He was sure the two of them could come up with a good pledge that got him all the advantages with minimal responsibilities. Hermione would probably rant at him about meddling with unknown quantities but help him in the end.

'Well, I've got some time to think about it. If I can come with something good, I'll do it. And if not, well, I'll have lost nothing' and taking parchment and quill he began to try different possibilities.

* * *

Four hours and a skipped meal later, Harry took a look at his surroundings, groaning; his room was a mess. There were scraps of parchment scattered everywhere, the desk and his hands had smudges of ink and there was a miserable sandwich lying by the door, probably passed along through the cat flap. But he had something he thought could work. It was a mammoth in the History of pledges in his opinion, but it seemed to have all possibilities covered. Hermione could have done better in half the time, no doubt about that, but he was happy he had no need to rely on her for everything. 

'The owl hasn't gone unnoticed, obviously, or there is a snowball chance in hell the Dursleys would have let me go this long without chores' He couldn't help the snort escaping him. 'How can anyone be so dense as to think that they can switch from their usual behavior to being nice, as nice as they can be to me anyway, when there is a hint of an adult wizard and go unnoticed?' Harry got up and stretched his limbs, rolling his eyes at the foolishness of his relatives. 'Better get on with this, so I can go and milk their fear while it lasts' Rummaging through his trunk, he got one of the small but incredibly sharp knives used in potions and thanked the only good thing living in number four has done for him: ingraining in him the habit of having care for all his thinks, no matter how unimportant they may be. Otherwise, he could get something strange when using a dirty tool to cut himself.

'This is it, here we go' And with a small wince, he made a relatively deep cut in his left forefinger and proceeded to lift his shirt to smear it over his chest, followed by his forehead, avoiding the scar, and the letter. While he was taking the piece of parchment he had worked so much to draft, somewhere else twenty one individuals stopped talking to look at a parchment, where a quill had suddenly prepared to write by itself. And Harry began.

"I swear to always hear your requests and help out if I am able to as long as the other parties comply with the following terms: That none of the integral parts of this agreement is ever forced, coerced or tricked to do something unknowingly or unwillingly in any way or form; that the way I help out is left at my discretion or at the very least agreed unanimously between me and the parties of this agreement involved in the matter at hand, provided all strive for reaching a compromise when in dissent; that there are no lies nor withholding of information between us that could endanger my life or the lives of my loved ones; that no one will give away information to anyone outside this agreement of its existence, its affiliates or its dealings without the unanimous consent of appointed representatives of your parties and myself; that there will be no alliances with either individuals or groups outside this agreement without the unanimous consent of appointed representatives of your parties and myself. In the instance of breach of these terms by any individual under the agreement, appointed representatives of your parties and I will know, and all parties will have the opportunity to withdraw from the agreement without consequences if an appropriate punishment for the culprit and/or a suitable solution cannot be agreed on unanimously by the appointed representatives of your parties and myself. I so swear with magic as my witness and judge, So Mote It Be."

Well, he had done it. Now it was all on the hands of the other guys. He put his finger in his mouth to soothe its throbbing pain and try to stop its bleeding. 'How much I'll have to wait to know?' He had been going through ideas and possibilities for four hours, and he had no one but himself to agree with. They could take a lot of time to decide if they agreed with the terms he demanded. 'Better to occupy my mind with other thinks' At a growl of his stomach, he added 'and my belly as well!'

* * *

Dealing with aunt Petunia had been easier than he thought. He had only needed to make and off hand comment about the letter being from his godfather asking for the treatment he was receiving at number four and that he hadn't answered yet, and he got a plate overflowing with food. It wasn't by any means as much as Dudley, or even Ron, could eat at one single meal, but it was the most he had ever got from his relatives. He ate leisurely at the kitchen table, fumbling with the fork because of the still throbbing cut in his finger, trying in vain to stop thinking about the letter in his room. 

It had been less than an hour since he left the room when he entered it again, so it was a surprise to see said letter turn to ashes just as he was closing the door. Biting back a cry of joy, Harry ran to his desk and snatched the envelope, feeling it fuller than before. Letting himself fall on his bed, he extracted the stack of parchment it contained and began to read, full of excitement.

"**Dear Champion,**

**As promised, you will find more information regarding ourselves and the gifts we prepared for you. Read them as soon as possible, as I will be visiting you tonight, at eleven, to explain what will happen with the unlocking, to answer any questions you have, and discuss what are we going to do in the immediate future.**

**Yours respectfully,**

**Aurelius Gladius**

**Head of the Council of Elders"**

'Fuck!' he cursed to himself. 'A visit from a vampire here at Privet Drive. Wonderful. Wait!' AN evil smirk stretched his lips and a light of unholy mischief shone in his eyes. 'I could work this to my advantage, if I do it well. Later. Now lets see what exactly I'll be dealing with.' He put aside the letter from this Gladius person and took the next parchment.

"**Dear Champion, **('This champion thing is getting irritating' Harry grumbled to himself.)

**Here I have redacted a brief summary of the races which participated in the ritual and their abilities for your better understanding of your new brothers and sisters as well as the new elements of who you will be after this night.**

**Aurelius Gladius."**

"**_Veela_**

**This race is one of the most misunderstood by humans. The common misconceptions come from their beauty and how what it is commonly known as _veela charm_ affects those who are not veela themselves. **('These would be the _beautiful ones _I didn't know about')**As human beings exposed to them usually are overcome by the need to do everything and anything to impress them and, if possible, to gain their affections, they are seen as some sort of _femme fatale_ whose only purpose is to gather crowds and bask in their attention. ** ('And _that_ is why almost everyone there was male. But what about the two female vampires?')

**What you need to know first is that there are male veela, and the only reason they are rarely ever seen is that they are fewer and much more wary of other races. The so-called charm is a lot stronger in the males and there have been many occasions that those males who risked exposure to other races didn't survive the mobs of females they usually provoke. And the few that managed to escape brought back stories of attempts of rape and enslavement, discouraging others to try by themselves. **('Holy shit! That's not good, not good at all. I had enough with the crowds wanting to touch the bloody _Boy-Who-Lived_! What I'm going to do?')

**The truth about the charm is that it is nothing more than a mating mechanism. Between veela, the charm is successful only with those most genetically compatible, a way for individuals to locate the mate with whose combination of genetics will birth the strongest offspring. Due to the scarcity of males, there are usually at least two or three females mated to the same male, and it isn't abnormal to see females mate with other compatible races, but then they are only truly interested on those who can withstand their charm. **('Well, at least this thing about two or three mates has potential. What? I'm a hormonal male teenager, having chauvinistic fantasies that fuel my ego is my duty' he told to that voice in his head that sounded so much like Hermione.)

**Veela, both male and female, are extraordinarily affectionate individuals and have a constant need to demonstrate their care physically, but cases of infidelity are nonexistent. Homosexual tendencies are only seen in female veela **('I'll shut up with this one'),** and even then, only between females who lost a shared mate. When a male dies, their mates never seek another companion, and usually only avoid falling into madness if they have children to take care of. It is then when they would turn to their mate-sisters for solace.**

**They are strongly emotional, too: quick tempers when affronted; easily distraught under stress… It is whilst enraged that one of their more spectacular abilities manifests: the _veela fire_. When they are incensed, veela suffer a transformation of sorts, getting bird-like features and small, useless wings sprouting out of their shoulder blades. It is then they have access to their magic fire. In effect, their ability consists of the wandless conjuring of magical fire they can throw to enemies **('I could give Malfoy an afro with this. That should shut him up' he snickered).** This magical fire cannot be put out by something as simple as water.**

**It is important to take a look at those of mixed blood. They are always female, and, curiously enough, they have the ability to control the charm. Unlike full-blooded veela, whose only control over the charm is singing and dancing to increase their area of effect to all those within hearing range or looking at them, those of mixed blood can tune it down, some to almost nothing, at will. They also lose the fire abilities of the full-blooded veela, so there are theories about it being a self-defense mechanism in reaction to their decreased fighting abilities **'Would I be like that? Having the ability to tune it down is great, what with the mobs a veela Boy-Who-Lived would cause, but at the price of losing the fire?)**. It has been observed that usually their talent with the charm turns them into vain and attention-seeking individuals **('I'll do not! What are you? Snape the Second?')**, reinforcing humans believes about veela. Regrettably, they are the ones usually used as ambassadors, since there is a disturbing lack of females with high-ranking positions in wizarding society.**

**_Werewolves_:**

**Considered a cursed disease, lycanthropy is in reality something akin to vampirism, for werewolves, like vampires, are sterile, and the _transmission of the malady_ is their only way to have offspring, a kind of magical adoption **('Adoption my ass! Lupin seemed to be in a lot of pain, and no one would put their "sons" through _that_ on purpose, would they?')

**The problems usually associated to lycanthropy are caused by fighting the _inner wolf_. If the bitten refuses to merge with the wolf, if they try to fight it and cage it, the wolf will madden and turn against them, making the transformations during the full moon extremely painful, and lashing out to any human it gets close to. **('Uh?')

**The true werewolves, those who accept the wolf, do not only transform without pain, they can do it at will; although the transformation during the full moon is inevitable. It is what we could call _mating day _**('Do I sense a _sneer_ here?')**. Even without the ability to have offspring by themselves, werewolves feel a strong loneliness if they have no mate, and is during this time they seek a companion with whom to share their lives. It is also a time for social events, so to speak, as the challenges for leadership, the rites of passage to adulthood, and the introduction of new members to the pack happen during this night.**

**There are few _true _werewolves that are wizards, as those are the most prejudiced against lycanthropy. Muggles don't usually believe they are changing to werewolves, and, at the time of their first transformation, they merge with the wolf unknowingly. That night they usually met with the one who bit them and are brought to the pack. Opposing those who fight the transformation, these are very careful with who they bite (usually those they sense are in possession of some affinity to animals or empathy) and if possible only do so to children, as their young age eases the adjustment to their new environment and disposition.**

**Their society is structured as a carbon-copy of a pack of wolves, and even in human form they behave as wolves in the midst of their kin. They feel awkward when socializing with humans, as they rely strongly in their instincts, and the stiff and artificial rules of human society go against them **('Is he hinting to nudism?' he thought, amused)**. They are very protective of their own, playful in their free time, and very curious.**

**Werewolves are much more in tune with nature, especially with animals, than any other humanoid being. They have some kind of empathy towards all types of creatures, in particular with those most primitive. Mingling with werewolves outside of their own pack and other animals isn't strange, but they are extremely wary and distrustful of what they call _loners_ (those who refuse the wolf) during full moons as it is not unusual for them to have bouts of insane aggression caused by jealousy **('Insane aggression indeed')

**While werewolves wizards have more contact with, those _loners_, have only a slight part of the abilities of the wolf in human form (only rising a little the days around the full moon, when the wolf is nearer the surface) and no control over them, those who merged can access their full abilities at any time and even use as much or as little of them as they wish in either form. Those abilities, besides the empathy previously commented, are enhanced senses (accurate sense of smell and hearing and exceptional sight in the dark) and what it is often summarized as improved sturdiness (faster than normal healing, increased toughness to physical harm and high tolerance to pain) **('If this means less visits to the Hospital Wing, I can handle being furry once a month no problem')

**_Vampires_:**

**The so-called undead. Only because once turned we don't need the heart to pump our blood, as it flows thanks to magic, and we can survive without breathing for extremely long periods of time, we are supposed to be walking corpses? It is time to dispel the myths.**

**A vampire's strongest ability is blood magic. This type of magic, while very specific, is extremely strong. As far as wizards know, it is used to produce the strongest wards and, when combined with runes, enchanted and cursed items of astounding power. Pensieves are the most known examples, as a vampire's memory is absolutely perfect and elder vampires design them to help with the study of recollections without the hassle of all the links formed with a few centuries worth of other ones, or to store painful memories to take away the edge time will never blunt. When one dies, dozens of these artifacts are usually left to be found by treasure hunters.**

**But blood magic has much more uses than that. **('God, he sounds like those people on the late-night commercials.')

**One of them, misinterpreted for a natural ability, is the enhancement of the body **(Here he couldn't help a snort)**. Vampires are not naturally as strong or fast as we are known to be. It is another use of blood magic (while still flowing in our bodies) that increases our strength, speed, reflexes, agility, flexibility and stamina. It is a deliberate use of magic, but so easy and useful we develop it to the point of using it without conscious thought. It can be used, with more difficulty, to dispel magic cast on us, or to accelerate the rate of our healing, making us really hard to fight, as only a single killing blow or the buildup of extreme amounts of damage can kill us. **('Useful, this blood magic. But will I need to go biting left, right and center?')

**Another unknown use of blood magic takes place during our _feeding_. We don't really need blood to sustain us **('Yippee!')**, but our magic weakens considerably without ingesting new blood for its recovery **('Boo!')**. This ingestion, when done without being weakened and especially so if it comes from a magical being, gives us a temporary boost in our magic. It's unfortunate we can only take blood from humanoid creatures, as it would ease our existences if we could take it from animals. We can also use the blood to gain knowledge, but we will return to this later **('Yes, please, do so!')

**This powerful blood magic does not come free, however. On account of the extreme amount of magic in our blood, we suffer a strange disease: xeroderma pigmentosum, also known as XP. To make a very convoluted explanation simple, it translates to a very strong allergy to UV radiation. UV doesn't burn a vampire automatically as it is often believed, but because of this ailment, the degradation of the DNA the UV induces in all beings cannot be repaired and it keeps pilling up until it kills. That's the reason we only go out at night and shy away of any intense light source, as even electric light produces some UV radiation **('Holy shit! He can spell _electric_? He has beaten all purebloods I know. Not bad for someone older than Dumbledore by some centuries')**. This illness has only recently been discovered and since then we know what we need to protect from and repair, so there have been advancements towards a cure (here we have to be thankful of the veela community, as is thanks to the DNA correction abilities of their magic this advances have been possible). As of now there are potions that reduce the harm caused by exposure and help with the accumulated damage, but are extremely expensive (even when the main ingredient is given to us by our veela associates in exchange for the wards we put up in their settlements to keep unwelcome people away) and have a long and difficult brewing process, a short storage time and their influence lasts but a few hours. We've found that an extremely old and powerful vampire can use his or her own magic to shield themselves from the effect of the UV, but it demands a lot of magic, making us weaker and tiring us quickly, so we are reluctant to do it.**

**Another of the strengths of vampires is our mind magic, a tool so useful wizards have spend centuries trying to mimic it. The poor imitations they have accomplished are commonly called legilimency and occlumency **('Wow! Another sneer? This guy could give Snape a run for his money!')**. This magic consists in the invasion and protection of the mind. Wizards have only accomplished the examination of someone's memories associated to a specific feeling of the invader's choosing, and the ejection of intruder from their minds **('Is this why Dumbledore always knows more than he is supposed to? Does he go into my mind every time I go to his office?' Harry seethed 'If I don't gain this mind magic I'll learn occlumency if it kills me. That old goat won't go snooping in my mind again!')**. A few talented users have the ability to create false memories to hide the ones they want protected, but those are rare even amongst accomplished occlumens.**

**Vampires, instead, are true masters of mind magic and we are able to not only retrieve any information or memories associated to as specific a question as we want, but to implant subtle thoughts and feelings (a sort of weak imperious curse that, while not completely controlling the victim, it can inadvertently persuade them to do our bidding as if it was from their own free will) and erase or modify someone's memory with more precision than any _obliviate_. Our mental defenses are absolute against everyone except another vampire, and even then we are always aware of the intrusion and able to fight it. While it makes it easier to accomplish our purpose, vampires don't need to look at the eyes of our victim as wizards do, only having them in sight is necessary. **

**Some extraordinarily talented vampires, with a natural unsurpassable willpower even before their _turning_, are able to go beyond simple _persuasion_, and with some time and concentration can, by talking aloud (even if it's only under their breath out of earshot) while keeping their eyes fixed in the victim **('This sounds like what Quirrel did to jinx my broom')**, put them in a trance where they are completely under their control, no matter how strong against imperius or how skilled in occlumency they are. Those are called _whisperers _**('How original') **and are very rare, as it's a natural talent that cannot be learned.**

**We can also combine mind magic and blood magic to gain all the information someone has about anything while drinking their blood. This way is easier and a lot faster than any invasion of the mind when retrieving extensive information, to the point of picking up as much as year worth of memories with a single gulp of blood. It will take some time for this knowledge to be accessible, though, as the mind has to assess, organize and assimilate it **('I wonder if Hermione would let me bite her once or twice. I suppose she won't, it would be _cheating_ in her eyes')

**By nature, vampires are egoistic and self-centered individuals, with strong cravings (what we crave for depends on the individual, from blood or sexual intercourse to knowledge or property) and no wish to repress them whatsoever. We don't usually care about anyone but ourselves; association with others happens only when we have something to gain and even then, we do the bare minimum to accomplish our goals. Cold, calculating and arrogant by nature, we have been forced to change, to unite and rely on others, in order to survive.**

**Historically, a vampire only turns someone when they are tired of life. Our arrogance often leads us to have a childe to give our name and knowledge before taking our life, so than even after dead, we aren't completely forgotten. But the increasing persecution of our kin drove us to associate in clans and turn more childes to avoid being overwhelmed by numbers, and to cut short the killings to elude exposure. Lately, the way the world around us keep changing faster and faster has influenced us too, as old vampires can't change and adapt quick enough and need the help of the young to bring us up to speed.**

**Now, even when we are essentially the same solitary and uncaring characters, we have learned to live with and adhere to the rules of society and exercise restraint when feeding, taking the bare minimum of blood needed to keep us strong and spreading it throughout different _victims_ instead of draining a single one, understanding that only this way can we avoid a full-fledged war with humanity and insure our survival. But our attempts to be recognized as more than killers have found a strong opposition because of the prejudices against what wizards call _dark creatures_."**

"_Egoistic and self-centered_ indeed. He has written more about vampires than the other two combined! And all that about _cravings_?" Harry shuddered. "The mere thought of turning like Hermione about _anything_ is terrifying, but better books than blood, I suppose." He paused and looked at the wall in front of him with a horrified expression. "Wonderful! Now I'm talking to myself, the first sign of insanity. Next I'll be wearing Dumbledore's robes and having that annoying twinkle in my eyes" he grumbled while putting away the parchment he just read to take a look at the other one. "Again with all that Champion crap. If they keep it like that it will be even worse than wizards with their Boy-Who-Lived. If I had known I would have forbid calling me anything but my name in the terms of the agreement." Skipping all introductions he got right to the explanations about the gifts from the offerings.

"**_Dragon's blood_:**

**This is an extremely high magical substance that has many uses, especially in potions and alchemy **('Dumbledore did- OK, stop it right now, Potter! No more talking to yourself. And get something resembling to social life before you really lose it. Damn Dursleys having me do chores all day long')**, but through this ritual what the recipient gains is the innate abilities the blood gives to the dragons. It is a well known fact that dragons are one of the creatures most resistant to magic but only a part of this resistance is caused by their scales. Another very important factor is the enormous amount of magic in their blood. It places them among the beings closest to magic itself, right alongside phoenixes, unicorns and basilisks. What you will receive of this gift is a better grasp over your own magic (something that usually can only be improved, and slowly at that, with years of practice backed by an extensive knowledge of magical theory), an increased awareness of ambient magic (the ability to know when an object has been enchanted, something spiked with potions or magic cast in your surroundings) and a natural resistance to invasive magic, that is to say, any spell that would change your body, mind and emotions to anything different than what could be deemed as _healthy standard._ It will be harder to stun you (but it will be harder to cheer you up through a spell, too). Healing spells, instead, will work the same or even better. It applies to potions that don't rely in your own magic, as well. Those that only direct your own magic, like some of the medical ones for instance, will work as usual, but with the hold you'll have over it you'll be aware it is there and of what it is intended to do, even allowing you a chance to fight it or help it consciously if you want/can. **

**_Clabbert's pustule_:**

**This are very boring creatures, but their pustule shines when dangers approaches. Thanks to the ritual, you will be able to sense when you are in danger. We are unsure as how much forewarning you will have. The most accepted theory says it will be directly proportional to the amount of danger.**

**_Diricawl's heart_:**

**Another rather useless creature, if not for the fact their way of traveling is impossible to block. Almost identical to the one phoenixes use, diricawls can explode to disappear from one place and appear anywhere else in the world (As far as we know, there is no real limit to the distance). No magical or physical ward can maintain one of these birds contained, so neither will they work with you. If there was any way to acquire a powerful enough part of a phoenix, we would have used it, as it would have given you more abilities than simple travel, but ash or feathers don't have enough potency, and their tears would have only increased your healing, something deemed improved enough with what you've gained from the werewolves and vampires. Unfortunately, it's impossible to harvest anything from a (mature enough to be useful) phoenix without killing them (annoying shits always get away before it is possible to take even a drop or two of blood), what would defeat the purpose as it would burn to ashes and be reborn.**

**_Boggart's essence_:**

**The most difficult to acquire of our gifts, it is the most flexible and dead useful. Boggarts are the only true shapeshifters there are in existence. They can turn into anything, absolutely anything (alive or inanimate, real or imaginary), while retaining the abilities of whatever it has turned into; within the measure of their own magical power, of course. The perfect example would be a dementor or a veela, as the effect of their abilities would reflect the difference between the power of the boggart and the real thing. Those two examples have more innate magic than a boggart, so when shifted into those, it would be unable to produce as strong a reaction as being in the presence of a real one would do. From the essence of this creature, you will gain the exact same ability to shapeshift, and, depending of your raw magical power, even surpass what you change to. Someone like Merlin with this ability would probably be able to drain the happiness of anyone within a two or three miles radius when taking the shape of a dementor."**

"Well" Harry rasped completely astounded. "They can choose what everyone will get me for my birthday; they are very good at it." After that he spend almost an hour looking at nowhere incapable of coherent thought.


	3. 02 Guess Who's Coming

AN and Disclaimer will be found in my profile as soon as FFNet bothers updating it.

* * *

**Guess Who's Coming (to Dinner?)**

By the time Harry finally get a hold of his brain and gave it a good shake, it was already half past seven, and he still had to warn the Dursleys of his late visitor tonight.

"This is going to be fun."

* * *

The Dursleys were in the sitting room ('Where else?' he snorted derisively), eyes completely glued to the telly and, in the case of both males, mouths munching some snacks mechanically. As soon as his presence at the threshold was noted by his aunt, she asked if he had answered his godfather's letter already. 

"Well, you see." He tried with all his might to appear hesitant rather than amused. "The thing is, he doesn't expect a letter. _Could be forged_, he said. So, um, he has arranged a friend of his to come at eleven tonight to talk to me in person."

"Absolutely NOT!" bellowed his uncle, turning magenta in hardly a second. 'It's a new record!' thought Harry, biting his tongue to avoid snickering out loud, the cringe of pain easily concealed as fear of Vernon's anger. "I won't have any of your- your _lot_ in MY house"

"Vernon, hush. The neighbours could hear" whispered Petunia franticly. His uncle took some deep breaths to regain calmness, and Harry made the most of it. "OK." He said shrugging and trying to look rather relieved at the same time. Sometimes he had to give it to the Sorting Hat; although rarely used outside of number four, he _really _had some qualities valued at Slytherin, even if he lacked some important ones too, like the willingness to cheat in quidditch and the nastiness so distinctive of the prominent members of the house. "What?" both his aunt and uncle said, looking at him incredulously. It was evident they found strange his easy acquiescence.

"Well, not even I am too keen on meeting a vampire, no matter how safe my godfather says _I_'ll be" Harry enjoyed seeing the reactions of his so-called family had to his slight emphasis in that he was the only one of them supposed to be safe from the blood-sucking monster going to pay a visit to their home. "You'll tell him his not allowed to see me, right, uncle? Thanks a lot!" And he turned around to go back to his room, but was stopped by a shout of "Wait!" from his uncle. "You'll meet with him at the door and go to the backyard to talk. He will NOT enter my house, and you are to keep your voice low so no neighbours hear you. We will be getting to bed early tonight. Now go already." Shaking lightly from his contained laughter and with head bowed to hid his triumphant smile, he was the prefect image of a frightened and dejected kid when looked from the place at his back the Dursleys were standing.

Once in his room and the door safely closed, Harry collapsed on his bed and pressed his face into the pillow to muffle his hysterical laughter. "It's been hilarious!" he gasped as soon as he got a bit of air in his protesting lungs. "I wish I could have seen their faces, but I don't think I could have kept a straight face then. I barely held with how his voice was trembling."

Now Harry only had to wait till eleven.

* * *

Sitting on the doorstep of number four, Harry was getting increasingly nervous as the hour of his meeting grew closer. In his earlier excitement he hadn't registered much of what was going on. The first thing he worried about was how the hell the vampire knew where to find him. Everything this Aurelius Gladius wrote to him implied they didn't know who he was, so they shouldn't be able to know who to search for! 

"Perhaps it has something to do with my acceptance to help them?" he muttered to himself, eyes scanning as much of Privet Drive as possible from his place. He really hoped it was that, as he was supposed to be safe in this house. After Wormtail got away, he had been worried about returning to the Dursleys, as the disgusting traitor had been posing as his best friend's pet for years and undoubtedly heard where he lived more than once. Dumbledore had convinced him to return here saying there where the strongest protections available and could rest sure that it was the safest place for him to be.

"Makes me think on what he considers safe, with how the Dursleys have treated me all those years" he grumbled angrily under his breath.

It was because of these supposed protections he was a little unsure. How would the vampire overcome those protections? Could he do it? A vampire was surely something the Headmaster would consider dangerous, so it stood to reason whatever it was that protected him here would try to keep him away from number four and they would be unable to meet. What would he do with the unlocking if Gladius couldn't reach him? Was there something that should be done that Harry wouldn't know without speaking to him?

But if the meeting actually took place, what would that mean? That the protections recognized he wasn't in danger? Or that they where not as good as Dumbledore said? Knowing that Sirius' innocence had slipped past the Headmaster had been a serious blow to his confidence in the old man.

At the beginning, Harry was convinced of Dumbledore's almost infallibility. Yes, he had left him with the Dursleys without ever bothering to check on him (something those protections helped to explain), but even with his recent discovery of his famous status Harry's sense of self-worth was low enough thanks to his _loving_ family he couldn't help but think the old man surely had lots of more important things to take care of than a single kid, no matter how famous he was. But with every year, he had seen how seriously everybody took anything regarding him, even the Headmaster. And that made him wonder.

There was also the fact that, for the safest place in the world, Hogwarts had had plenty of dangers for Harry every year. Dumbledore used protections three first years were able to pass through to keep the philosopher's stone safe, something Voldemort was seeking in order to return to life. He didn't seem to know where the Chamber of Secrets was or what monster was sheltered in it, while his friends and him, even without half the information the man had were able to resolve the mystery. And all through last year, a supposed assassin was able to sneak into the school, and even once got to his dorm! He could have been killed easily if it was what Sirius was really after.

No, Dumbledore was far from infallible. So he didn't feel ashamed of doubting his protections.

* * *

It was only five minutes. 

His wristwatch was old, as most things he owned. It was surely due its inaccuracy.

Or perhaps vampires weren't punctual. It was something self-centered people usually aren't, as it is a show of respect they wouldn't care for. Right?

Any moment now he would see someone turn the corner, so he should simply wait patiently instead of pacing nervously to and fro the front yard of number four. 'What the-' he thought alarmed at what greeted him after his last turn.

Roughly eighty feet from him was the only tree of the whole property. And right through its scantily in-leaf branches (thanks to the dry and heated summer), Harry could see a small, crimson shining.

Approaching cautiously, he tried to see whatever was causing it, but before he could, another strange thing happened. Two thick, blood-red ribbons of smoke began to raise from the same place the light came and were coiling around each other all the way up until there was a six feet column, when a shadow appeared in its midst for a moment before disappearing again. A loud thump and a snarl draw his attention to the ground, where someone laid sprawled in an undignified heap. He couldn't avoid a quiet, nervous snicker to escape his lips, but fortunately, whoever that was, was cussing to loud to hear him.

"Blasted bird! I told it _somewhere not easily disturbed_, but this is ridiculous. I'll smash its empty head as soon as I get back. Bloody feathered, overgrown rat... What of my reputation? If this got back to the Council, I would have to make sure they got a good tan before they were able to spread it, annoying gossipers they are." All through the rant, the man had gotten up and dusted off his robes, ignoring Harry's presence while he got a good look at him, as it was obvious this was Aurelius Gladius.

His first impression was of a younger Lucius Malfoy, as he had long, blond hair in a low ponytail and seemed to be no older than mid-twenties. The old fashioned but obviously expensive robes he wore reinforced the likeness, as did his regal posture and the disdainful movements with which he tried to smooth any wrinkle in his clothes. But the moment the vampire looked at him, he saw that their faces had nothing in common.

He was, not surprisingly, extremely pale. Much more than any human could ever be. His face was composed by strong, squared features, with a straight but slightly wide nose, broad chin and faintly thick eyebrows. His eyes, too, were different, a deep blue instead of light grey. The sneer directed at Harry was also more reminiscent of Snape than Malfoy, a resemblance he had been dreading since he read his letters.

'It's only he doesn't like that I saw him in an undignified moment like this, I hope' he thought. Taking some steps to get closer to the vampire, he said "You'll be Aurelius Gladius, Head of the vampire's Council of Elders, I presume?"

"And who would you be? I was supposed to meet someone important, not a snoot-nosed twelve years old. Are you a servant?" asked Gladius looking him up and down, distaste obvious in his every word and gesture.

Maybe it was because he was expecting more respect from the ones seeking his aid, as between the Dursleys and the Potion's Master he was pretty used to be treated as dirt, but this time Harry was unable to keep the anger from rising. "_I_ am who you've come to meet" he answered, glaring. The vampire snarled.

"I don't care if the Champion is behind this stupid joke, but I don't have time to waste with the likes of you. Stop it or I will drain you of blood, no matter how meager a meal you would be"

"Then we only have to wait till midnight, don't we? You said that then all those aware of the ritual would be able to recognize me." That got the attention of the vampire, and for the first time took notice of the confidence of the kid. Cursing himself for not doing it at the very beginning, Gladius probed his mind and found he was telling the truth. As an elder, he had lots of faithful servants, even willing to share their blood, and confusing the boy as a servant he hadn't bothered to use mind magic with him.

"How can a street rat like you be the Champion?" he asked bewildered. His only response was a snort and the boy lifting his fringe to show him a scar. A scar shaped as a lightning bolt. His blue eyes widened and his mouth worked soundlessly for a moment before he finally gasped "The-boy-who-lived?"

"I prefer Harry, thanks" he said with a scowl.

"Well, being a Potter gives him the political weight to help us, as he will receive a Wizengamot seat with his inheritance, and his being famous will be enough to get his words spread through the masses, but..." The vampire said to himself, his eyes never leaving Harry's forehead, even when he pushed his bangs down to cover the scar again. Gathering his bearings, the vampire continued in a disbelieving tone. "But how can you ever understand us? The discrimination we suffer; the unwillingness to recognize we are different from the preconceived idea of us they have? You are their Golden Boy, after all" he finished with a sneer, making Harry wonder if all those rumors about Snape being a vampire were really true. 'Perhaps Snape really is a vampire! But he is around during the day, and even being a Potions Master, it's unlikely he has enough raw material to brew the amount of corrective potions needed to survive that much UV' he thought, even while the anger inside him kept rising. With his best glare, he spat at the vampire "You really are _not_ that different than wizards, are you?" causing him to splutter a "How dare you-?" But Harry interrupted him.

"I dare because you seem to be as blind as they are! As I am their fucking _savior_, they only see what they want to see. Were you not mistaking me for someone two years younger a moment ago? Didn't you see the ill-fitting over-sized hand-me-downs and how obviously scrawny and underfed I was _before_ knowing I'm _famous_ Harry Potter? And hadn't you stopped seeing them as soon as I showed you that damned scar? And you talk about preconceived ideas" he scoffed with a snort. "And what about discrimination? You won't know what that word means until you're left at the door of a bunch of muggle relatives, whose feelings about anything magical match Voldemort's about muggles, in order to be raised by them when you were only a toddler. I could wear a pillowcase as clothing and go to live with a family of pureblooded maniacs as their house elf and never miss them!" Harry was already breathing hard, but was by no means finished with the again taken aback vampire in front of him. He had broken the damn and was unable to stop venting his frustrations with the wizarding populace.

"And I don't know anything about the Wizen-whatever, but I wouldn't be so sure my voice will get anywhere, either. Everyone at school thought I was attacking muggleborns because I can talk _parsel_, even when I didn't know what the hell a parselmouth was! If word got out I was friends with vampires I would probably be accused of being the next Dark Lord or some stupid thing like that. Bunch of arrogant, self-centered egomaniacs incapable of logical thought, the lot of them. How could they think I was the one doing it? One of my best friends is muggleborn and I fought a fuckin_g_ _mountain troll_ to save her in my first year, for Christ's sake! And the worst is it's infectious! Muggleborns throwing out the window the logic they've been using for years to join with the mindless ship! If I could I-" But he got interrupted by his listener, who he had forgotten was even there, clearing his throat.

"Well, it seems that at the very least you have a way with words and can get your point across. But if you expect me to apologize, you've not read what I had to say about vampires" he sneered, again. He suddenly scowled. "And you said you were fourteen?"

"I'll be in a month" he answered, his anger still simmering. The intense look he was receiving made him wary, and when the vampire cursed loudly he almost jumped away.

"This is not good. We never even entertained the idea of having an underage wizard as the Champion. This will complicate things a lot." Gladius seemed to be talking mostly to himself, so Harry tried to gain his attention again with a question.

"How does it complicates things? I know it will delay your plans if we really have to wait till I'm seventeen, but if you've survived so long, waiting some more years will be nothing to you" he attempted his own sneer, not really successful.

"It does not have anything to do with having to wait, although patience is not one of our virtues. What really concerns me is that you have not reached your maturity, either magical or physical."

"And what has that to do with anything?" Harry asked, curiosity pushing aside his anger. If it wasn't a matter of waiting, what could be so serious?

"A lot, after the unlocking. Don't you know anything? Puberty is a chaotic time for every living creature, and so much more for some of them. Emotions are unbalanced, the body develops new urges and desires and self-control is at its lowest. Now, think about adding to all that the merging of your new natures as vampire, werewolf and veela and the result could be complete disaster." Harry gulped.

"What exactly are you talking about? Am I going to go mad?"

"I have not come here to guide you by hand. Have you do not read my explanations? Make your own conclusions." Gladius snarled.

"Look, you'll have to start toning down your superiority complex if you want to work with me" growled Harry, forgotten anger returning swiftly and with renewed vigor. "It is you who have come to me for help, and it is because I accepted to help you I'll have to deal with this mess. You'll need to learn to hide your contempt at the very least if you really want to change the way wizards see you. How do you expect to be accepted by a race so full of themselves as wizardkind if you treat them as inferior to you, I've no idea. So you can begin practicing to treat others with respect and as equals with me, and help illustrate the ignorant while making him feel grateful of your aid instead of hateful and murderous."

"Who do you thing you are to talk to me like that?" whispered dangerously the fuming vampire.

"I'm your fucking Champion, you ungrateful jerk. Weren't you supposed to have perfect memory?" And this time he managed to pull off a worthy sneer.

"You have guts to say this to me, brat. I could snap your neck with a single hand, and I have done as much for half your offence" was the half-growled response. But then a cold smirk pulled at his lips. "But it proves you can be a worthy champion with enough preparation." It wasn't a warm compliment at all, but it was the less contempt-filled sentence that has left the vampires mouth that night, and it managed to calm down the anger and tension coursing through Harry.

"Then start heeding my advice. You'll have to learn how to disguise your contempt for wizards if you really want them to learn to accept vampires. Most of them are too proud and arrogant to accept this treatment from anyone, much less for what they consider lesser races, which is pretty much anyone not a pureblooded wizard. Most of the game of politics consists of buttering up to those with power, and you don't seem to have this skill mastered. I will have to practice it, too, if I have to be your ambassador. Why don't we begin with trying to talk civilly for starters?" Harry was surprised with himself. He knew he could be pretty eloquent when ranting, but this was the first time he had managed to give a speech worthy of Hermione. Could she be rubbing off on him more than he had known?

"Perhaps it is worth a try, as a training exercise. But don't be fooled, you will need more than that to really gain my respect" Gladius sneered for the umpteenth time. He proceeded to school a calm façade and began a stiff explanation. "The problem with your age is that the three races have strong, and sometimes contradicting, needs by themselves, and those would have unbalanced you enough, but the fact you are going to be suffering your own changes will magnify the effect of your merging with our races. The feelings of loneliness from the werewolves, the sex drive from the veela, the strong lust from vampires won't be tempered by your wizarding side, but amplified by the process of puberty you are experimenting. You will need to learn to deal with all this quickly, or you will be dominated by instinct and become little more than a beast."

"So I need to learn to restrain all this? Well I'm used to being starved when I'm here, it won't be so different."

"That is completely wrong" The sneer wasn't present, but Harry could sense he barely managed to hold it back.

"What?"

"It has nothing to do with anything you have experienced so far. In addition to the hunger, you will have a strong instinct to satiate it by any means necessary. You can't repress this urges, or they will grow till dominate you as I said. What you have to learn to do is to control them, to know how far you can go without satisfying them, how much you need to take to continue being in control, how to prevent taking more than what is really needed, and above all how to do it without being exposed" the vampire explained forcefully. "If you try to completely ignore the bloodlust, you will not only be weakened considerably and have problems concentrating in other things, it will grow until it drives you into a frenzy and you will attack anyone, anywhere, without regard to your own wellbeing. And the same with everything else. You want to be a killer? Or a rapist? Perhaps a thief?"

Harry shuddered and shook his head emphatically. Of course he didn't want to become anything like that.

"Then you have to understand you cannot control your needs. You have to control yourself, learn to quench them with subtlety and without leaving proof, always making sure your back is covered. And the same can be said of your new abilities."

"What happens with the abilities?" asked Harry fearfully. He was beginning to think he had made the worst mistake of his life accepting the gifts. It seemed they brought more problems than they were worth.

"Thanks to the ritual you will have an instinctual grasp of them, and instead of having to learn how to use them, all you will need is some practice to _remember_ how to use them. The ones you received the abilities from had as much control over them as it was possible for them, but you do not have any experience with these powers. The result is that, when you are in control of yourself, you will have no idea how to use them, but if you lose control and act by instinct, you will surely use them as if you always had them."

"But that's good, isn't it?"

"In some situations, yes. But if you don't have them completely under control, you could unleash some unwittingly. When you were as angered as when ranting at me, for instance, you could have started throwing veela fire, or attacking my mind in order to get the answers you wanted. Doing so would reveal what you have become rather easily. So you will have to learn to control your emotions until the abilities are completely under your command. Due to you going through puberty, there is little hope you can't accomplish that for long, so beginning tomorrow you will have to train in earnest."

"But I can't train! I'm not allowed to do magic outside of school!"

"You can't be that daft! Do you really believe purebloods would consent to their children being deprived of doing magic unless while in school? Rendering them virtually muggles half the year? There are lots of ways to avoid detection. The ministry can only notice spells two ways: through trackers placed in the wands during their construction (and those only disappear seven years after the first proper spell is cast); or through sensing spellcasting in specifically monitored areas (like the muggleborn's homes). Purebloods only need to use an old wand of some ancestor and the ministry will be none the wiser, thinking the spells they notice are being cast by adults, if they notice anything at all with all the magic there usually is around from the wards. And if they really need their own wands for compatibility reasons, there are some obscure wards that can stop all tracking from the outside. Not that the Ministry would really care, as the Restriction of Underage Magic is undoubtedly another way to give old pureblooded families an advantage, keeping their offspring ahead of the other kids. And as I've been saying all through this rant, it is _spells _(that's to say, the deliberate use of organized _wizarding _magic) what they are able to notice, not wild or natural magic as you would be using with the gifts. They never appeared during your bouts of accidental magic when you were a child, did they?"

"They came last year when I blew up my aunt, and I didn't even have my wand with me" he replied stubbornly.

"Strange. You received a notification? Wait! Last year? You did accidental magic last year?"

"Yes, I did. I was really angry" he answered defensively. "And no, they didn't send a letter; they came sometime after to reverse it."

"Zeus! It shouldn't be possible. Accidental magic is the result of the magic leaking from someone's core taking the shape strong emotions direct them to. These leaks grow fewer with age until stopping completely about ten or eleven, when magical puberty starts. To perform accidental magic after this is impossible, as it is when your body finally gets your magic contained and under control in order to start growing. That means you have been attending classes without having your magic completely stable. And you've been able to manage all the spells they taught? You should lack power and control before the beginning of puberty to learn even basic spells!"

"Perhaps that's why I couldn't do a proper Patronus until the end of term" Harry mumbled to himself. Gladius' eyes widened comically at hearing that.

"Well, there is no doubt that given enough time you would have been a hell of a wizard in your own right, if you managed well at school _before_ hitting magical puberty, as your power and control are at its lowest. And a Patronus charm at the beginning of puberty is an exceptional feat. Add to that all the new abilities and dragon's blood helping you with your magic now…" he let loose a soft whistle. "And nobody at your school noticed? It is equivalent to attending classes for kids two years older! Morons, all of them" he muttered shaking his head with a scowl.

"OK, back to the Ministry's detection. If you didn't receive a letter, it means they didn't pick the magic itself. Those letters are pretty much automated and get on their way even before anyone in the Improper Use of Magic Office knows about it. They could have been warned through other means. You said you blew someone up, don't you? If she had been seen by other muggles that could be the cause, as the security-breach detectors pick up muggles witnessing magical incidents, and the Improper Use of Magic Office had nothing to do with it. Or perhaps they were monitoring especially close any magic discharge in your home. Either way, they can only pick up wizarding magic, and only faintly _when_ actively looking for it if it is not from a wand. You will be training in magic from other races."

"And what about Dobby the summer before my second year?" Harry asked in confusion. "He was a house elf who came to warn me his master was planning something dangerous in school, and he used magic that was blamed on me to keep me from attending"

"That's because house elves have been bound to wizards for so long that their own magic is weak and they need to help it with someone else's magic. Therefore, their magic is so much like a spell cast by that someone it is seen as the same on the Ministry detectors. Even if there had been another source of magic nearby, this Dobby would have used your magic anyway to accomplish his purpose, so the Ministry saw it like casting it yourself. So long you don't use your own wand and no one without previous knowledge of the magical world sees you, you can practice as much as you want." Here, Gladius looked at Harry thoughtfully a minute before starting to speak again.

"But we really need to accelerate your magical and biological maturation if it is only beginning now. We don't really want it to go on for five or six years while influenced by the quirks of our three races. The only way to do it quickly would be through the darkest of rituals, involving many unwilling sacrifices and lots of pain, but unfortunately, your unique nature after the "Champion's Awakening" makes it impossible to know what side effects could there be, so that is ruled out. There is a potion that will shorten the process a bit, but it would still take at the very least four years at the rate wizards mature now. It is a pity we can't…" the vampire trailed off and his eyes unfocused before muttering to himself, reminding Harry strongly of Olivander three years ago, when he was chosen by his wand. "Or could we? Having veela magic… Yes, yes. That will work."

Looking at him again, the vampire continued. "Did you know magic is a lot like a muscle, Potter? No? Wizards nowadays seem to have forgotten about many things. I'm sure some know a lot more than what they share with the world, like that Dumbledore fellow, but the way they are allowing ignorance to grow within them is pathetic." scoffed Gladius.

"Well then, magic _does_ behave a lot like a muscle. And like the body's muscles, it's honed and developed through exercise. This doesn't mean that you can be super powerful with lots of training. Everybody has a limit, a set amount of room for magic to grow, determined by birth, like everybody reaches a point when he can't increase the amount of weight he's able to lift. And there is no changing it, not even with the most obscure rituals, without changing your very nature. That's what Voldemort did, by the way. He changed his human nature in order to grow more powerful. But even this way there is only so much you can change."

"What our ritual did was _add_ to your human nature, not change it" he added, seeing Harry's outrage at the possibility of becoming anything like Voldemort. "You're still completely human, but a vampire, a veela and a werewolf too. And not part-anything, but completely the four, and a little more thanks to the offerings. In a sense, we haven't changed the source of your magic, but added new sources to it. Something that it's a first in History, if I'm not mistaken, and hopefully there won't ever be the need of doing something like that ever again. But as your "basic" nature, we could say, is that of a wizard, it is that nature the dominant one. That's why, even when your vampiric nature is that of an elder and the others are at least that of a mature individual, you'll be still going through puberty instead of maturing suddenly. But I digress" he paused.

"What I was trying to explain is that, as with the body's muscles, magic develops by being exhausted and regenerated. The sooner you start working it out in earnest, that is to say, the faster you go through repetitions of this cycle of exhaustion-regeneration, the faster you'll reach your peak. And the muscle similarity holds true as well for the fact that disuse leads to atrophy and the deterioration of your proficiency and power. You got all that? Good. I'm explaining all this for a very simple reason. There is another likeness with muscle training. It is not only because they lack power and control over their magic that students do not learn advanced spells. If they practiced those enough, they would not only get them with time, but it would make much easier to learn the simplest ones later on. The reason for that is because this strenuous exercise would force magic to grow faster and reach maturity sooner. Why don't do it, then? Because magical and physical maturity are closely linked, and reaching magical maturity too soon would stunt physical growth, as your body wouldn't be able to accelerate its growing to keep up with your magic but it would _do_ stop maturing not long after the time your magic did. Haven't you observed that those in your year who have their birthday sooner have a little easier time learning? That females, who usually mature a little earlier, are in general a bit better than males at the beginning and it evens out in the last years? Or that the best of your classmates are usually the most mature?" Harry's eyes widened when he thought of Hermione, who fitted all those criteria. The rapid pace at which his eyes darted left and right informed Gladius he was recalling something, probably the identity of those matching what he said. He used the pause to take a peak in his mind.

'Hermione fits it all! Her birthday is soon after the start of term, so she is only in our year because of a few days, she is always ranting about how immature we are and is beginning to show how obviously a female she is, too. And no one has ever beaten her to the first place when trying a new spell in class. So it isn't only how much she studies? Does she know about all this?' Harry mulled. "But what does this has to do with me? My growth is stunted enough in my time here. I have no wish to be more of a midget than strictly necessary" was what he said aloud, scowling.

"There is where your future veela magic comes in. Their magic almost completely revolves about mating. The need to look their best to appeal to their mate; to have a clean genetic map to have the best offspring and not passing along any hereditary deficiencies; etc. Veela are usually pushed to mature as fast as they can their Charm so it is at its strongest even if they are not mature enough to mate, to avoid the off-chance that the opportunity to find their mate escapes their notice. But their physical grow is never stunted, as their very essence will be correcting this soon enough. And this same essence will be part of you. Furthermore, it will not only correct any inhibiting the faster developing of your magic could cause, but any problems you had before, too. And I'm almost sure it will help your body mature faster. We have discussed long about what the ritual would do to the eventual Champion. All we know will happen, and all we suppose could do, we have written in some journals I will be giving you in a moment. But let me give you a small preview. From what veela told us themselves, your eyesight, for example, is something that not only will definitely be corrected, but will surely be one of the first things to be done. And _that__scar _will become fainter, if it can't disappear completely." Gladius allowed himself a moment to enjoy smugly the look of astonishment in his young audience as that tidbit of info sunk, before returning to the matter at hand.

"When the time to go back to school arrives, you'll have to make excuses about your 'growth spurt' and doing a lot of exercise to explain the changes. I don't know what you can say about your eyes. You will probably have to use fake glasses to avoid any undesired scrutiny. I've heard rumors about a muggle contraption that does the same but goes directly on the eyeball, but I don't really give it much credit" He looked at his wristwatch and sighed. "It is almost midnight. You should get going. The unlocking won't be too painful, but you'll be a little sore and thoroughly exhausted by the time it ends. I think there is the specific ward to avoid detection in one of the books I am going to give you, but you'll need more specific information to wove it within the current wards. I'll owl you that one as soon as possible so you can start using magic here, along with as much information on magical puberty as I can get my hands on. We need a true champion, and you are far from it in your current state." The training in politeness had ended, as far as Gladius was concerned, and his sneer tried to make up for the ones restrained before.

Harry watched Gladius with curiosity as he extracted a small stone and placed it on the ground. A small puncture on his finger made with one of hi fangs provided the small drop of blood Gladius smeared on it, and from the cloud of smoke that raised appeared a stack of books and scrolls.

"Why can't you put up the ward yourself?" Harry asked while accepting the books the vampire was now handing him. He was really eager to be able to do magic in the presence of his _family._

"Because there already is a blood ward here, and it wouldn't accept a new one from me. It took me five minutes to get around it in order to come here inconspicuously, even with how weak it is. The other ones were easy."

"There is a blood ward in this place? That would be the protections Dumbledore was so sure about."

"Dumbledore? No doubt about why it is so shoddy, then. This ward is tied to you and those who you share blood with. I suppose his intention was to strengthen the ward with the feelings of protectiveness families are supposed to have for one another, but as it obviously is not the case, the only thing maintaining the ward is the desire of protection he had when casting it, and even this is being drained by the feelings between them and you. But even this obviously amateurish ward would fight my attempts to cast another one, even using your blood. In the rather miraculous chance I managed to put up the ward without destroying the existing one (thus alerting Dumbledore immediately of my tampering) in the process, they would be both so weakened and unstable that the magical equivalent of a sneeze would bring them down. But even if it wasn't you who cast it, Dumbledore used your blood to do it, so it is tied to you. If you do it yourself, with your blood and magic, the new ward will not only cause no problems, but reinforce this one and bring its control to you at the same time. I would send someone to assist you, but I'm sure you are monitored more closely than even you think, so we will have to wait until you can do it alone. I don't know if I would have risked coming today, had I known _who_ I was going to meet." With another glance at his clock, he made shooing motions to him while hissing urgently "Get going now! You don't want to be far from your bed when it starts" and disappeared with the same display of smoke he came.

And he was right. He had barely enough time to close the door to his bedroom when the feelings of being swelled like a balloon and his blood being replaced by melted iron began. An hour later he crawled into his bed, groaning and moaning. "_It won't be too painful_, he said" was his last thought before losing consciousness.


End file.
